Pre-Diabetes – A Reversible Condition

Prediabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough for your doctor to diagnose as diabetes.

As such prediabetes generally has no specific signs or symptoms and few blood tests can confirm whether your blood sugar levels are normal, prediabetic or diabetic.

However, there are few symptoms which a pre-diabetic might notice:

• Tiredness and feeling of weakness (fatigue)
• Increased thirst
• Frequent urination
• Excess hunger
• Blurred vision
• Darkened skin on certain parts of the body like neck, armpits, elbows, knees and knuckles

Risk factors for pre-diabetes

• Age – 45 or older
• Obesity or Overweight
• Heredity - a parent, brother, or sister with diabetes
• Waist size - larger than 40 inches if you’re a man and 35 inches around if you’re a woman
• Unbalanced diet – eating lots of refined flours, red and processed meats, junk and processed foods, drinking artificial sweetened beverages, and not eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• History of other medical problems like - high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high LDL cholesterol, poly cystic ovary syndrome (PCODs), sleep apnea (sleep problem) and gestational diabetes
• No exercise

Taking proper measures during prediabetes can help you prevent many serious health diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and problems with blood vessels, eyes and kidneys.

Few tips to prevent the onset of diabetes

• Eat a healthy well-balanced diet. Avoid junk foods.
• Inculcate a habit of regular exercise.
• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables as they are rich in fiber.
• Include whole wheat grains in all meals as they provide ample fiber.
• Completely avoid refined cereals like white rice, white bread, refined flour (maida), white pasta, etc.
• Prefer having foods with low glycaemic index (GI). They are slowly digested and absorbed, producing a gradual rise in blood sugar and insulin levels.

• Try to maintain an ideal body weight. If you are overweight or obese, losing extra kilos is the only way out.
• Avoid sodas, sweetened tea, fruit juice, juice-like sweetened beverages etc. Instead of this, include coconut water, lemon water, vegetable soups, etc.
• Try to bring your other medical conditions under control like blood pressure or cholesterol levels.
• It’s advisable to have more of good or healthy fats like monounsaturated fats (MUFA)and polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) than bad or unhealthy fats like saturated fats (SFA) and trans fats (TFA).
• Stop smoking and take alcohol in moderation.

You can also include a 100% natural, high-fiber supplement like Actifiber Natural Sugar Control in your diet to prevent onset of diabetes as it controls blood supar spikes.   Add a sachet of ActiFiber to each of the 2 main meals that have the goodness of fiber and prebiotic which helps in regulating blood glucose levels and keeps you energized between meals too. It dissolves easily with no taste, odour or colour thus blending into your regular diet effortlessly.